Machine for issuing registration-certificates for registered letters and postal packets.



' K. VON DREGBR. MACHINE FOR ISSUING REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES EoE REGISTERED LETTEEs I AND POSTAL PAGKETS. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 8, 1908.

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908,218. Patented Dec. 29, 1908.

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K K. vow DREGER. MACHINE {FOR ISSUING REGISTRATION CERTIFICATES FOR REGISTERED LETTERS AND POSTAL PAOKETS APPLICATION FILED JULY 8, 1908.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @FFTQE.

KARL VON DREGER, OF BERLIN, GERMANY.

MACHINE FOR ISSUING REGISTRATION-CERTIFICATES FOR REGISTERED LETTERS AND POSTAL PACKETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 1908;

Application filed July 8, 1908. Serial No. 442,609.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, KARL VON Duncan, electrician, residing in Berlin, Germany, Bellealliancestrasse No. 92, a subject of the Emperor of Austria-Hungary, have invented certain new and useful improvements in machines for issuing registration-certificates for registered letters, postal packets, or the like, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to machines for issuing or preparing duplicate registration certificates or receipts for registered letters, one of which is to be preserved by the postoffice while the other is delivered to the sender. In known machines of this kind either a certificate is written by the sender himself on the machine for each separate package or address, the original of this certificate being retained by the post-office while the copy is retained by the sender, or copies of the address on the letter are made photographically by the machine itself. \Vith the present machine, on the other hand, the address which is written on the letter with copying ink is copied twice or a greater number of times by the machine itself merely by the rotation of a handle by the sender.

By means of the present apparatus the posting of registered letters is greatly facilitated so that almost as many registered letters as unregistered letters can be dealt with in a given time.

The drawing illustrates a preferred form of automatic machine embodying the invention, in which Figure l is a vertical, approximately central cross-section, and Fig. 2 shows another section diagrammatically illustrating Fig. 1 partly from the opposite side.

The letter 1 to be registered is brought by the guide 2 between two rollers 3 and 4 the first of which is connected by an endless chain 5 with one of the rollers of a second pair of rollers 6, 7 Webs of paper 10 and 11 run ofi paper rollers 8 and 9 over the two rollers 8 and 6. Said webs are moistened by the sponges 12 and 13 before they reach the rollers 3 and 6. The letter is inserted in. the guide 2 in such a manner that the address is directed towards the rollers 3 and 6 and can be observed on the outside of the apparatus in any convenient manner.

let and 15 are the pipes for supplying moisture to the sponges 12 and 13.

A spur wheel 16 (indicated by broken lines only) is mounted on the shaft of the roller 3 and cooperates with a second spur wheel 17 of twice its size which is mounted on the shaft of the handle 18. On this handle a cam plate 19 is fixed, its rod 20 being jointed to the lever 21 and to the knife 22 formed as a segment of a cylinder. This knife passes through a plate 23 upon which the postfng certificate intended for the sender of the letter leaves the apparatus through an opening 24.

The letter inserted in the guide 2 falls with its lower edge between the two rollers 3 and 4, but is at first unable to pass between them because the roller 4 is pressed against the loner 5 by suitable means, not shown.

Now, if the handle 18 is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow 25 in Fig. 1, the roller 3 will rotate in the opposite direction, carrying the letter with it so that it passes between the rollers 3 and at, through the hopper 26 and partly between the rollers 6 and 7 before it leaves the rollers 3 and t. Simultaneously with the passage of the letter through the rollers 3 and a, the moist web of paper 10 passes between the rollers and is powerfully pressed against the address side of the letter, an exact copy of the address being taken. T he moist web paper 10 passes from the roller 3 over a roller 27 past a knife 28 in the letter receiving chamber 29. When the front edge of the letter comes between the rollers 6 and 7, owing to v the suitable ratio, between the wheels 16 and 17 the handle 18 has rotated through an angle of about 120. turned further the letter passes entirely between the rollers 6 and 7; through a guide 30 into the collecting chamber 29.

During the passage between the rollers 6 and 7 a second copy of the address is taken on the moistened web of paper 11. When the letter leaves the two rollers 6 and 7 the handle 18 has passed through an angle of about 240. The handle is then further rotated against a stop 31 when the knife 22 cuts through the strip of paper 11 behind the copied address.

As shown in the drawing, owing to the .action of the cam plate 19, the knife 22 at the beginning of the rotation of the handle \Vhen the handle is leaves the path of movement of the paper strip 11. When the handle has passed beyond its lowest position the knife again begins to rise and shortly before the handle completes a revolution the knife edge passes through the paper so that the divided strip is now able to pass out on the chute 23. The handle then again comes against the stop 31 which prevents its further rotation. When a fresh letter is inserted, the stop 31 is withdrawn by means of a suitable device not here described. Ordinarily that is to say, when the bottom flaps 32 (Fig. 2) are closed the knife 28 is not in the path of the movement of the web of paper 10 on which the certificates for the post-office are copied. When the flaps are opened however the knife 28 is operated by means of the lever 33 and the rod 34 in such a manner that it divides the strip behind the address last copied so that the severed end of the strip, which therefore contains quite a number of separate addresses, passes into a suitable letter receptacle (not shown) together with the letters. The flaps 32 must be reclosed before the letter receptacle can be withdrawn so that the official is unable to remove a letter or a part of the strip of posting certificates. These strips may subsequently be bound together in bookform.

For the sake of simplicity it has been assumed in the drawing that the letter reaches the rollers 3 and at directly from the guide 2. In a practical apparatus however before the letter reaches the roller 3 it would be carried over a balance, the hand of which would indicate the amount of the postage or the weight of the letter behind a glass plate.

Instead of the moist web of paper 10 and 11 dry webs for copying the addresses by a chemical process might be employed.

I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination. with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of separate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passing over one roll of each pair, means to pass a letter between said pairs of rolls in succession whereby a plurality of copies of the address are taken, and means to deliver one of said copies to the sender.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of separate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passing over one roll of each pair, means to pass a letter between said pairs of rolls in succession whereby a plurality of copies of the address are taken, means to sever from one web a portion thereof containing a copy of the address, and means to deliver said severed portion to the sender.

3. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of separate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passing over one roll of each pair, a crank, suitable driving connections between said crank and said rolls whereby the revolution of said crank will pass a letter between said pairs of rolls and the address on said letter will be copied on each Web, and means also operated by said crank for severing from one web a portion thereof containing a copy of the address.

4. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of sep arate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passing over one roll of each pair, a crank, suitable driving connections between said crank and said rolls whereby the revolution of said crank will pass a letter between said pairs of rolls and the address on said letter will be copied on each web, a knife adapted to sever from one web a portion thereof containing a copy of the address, a cam on the shaft of said crank and means of connection between said cam and knife for operating the latter near the end of the revolution of said crank.

5. In amachine of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of separate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passing over one roll of each pair, means to pass a letter between said pairs of rolls whereby a plurality of copies of the address are taken, means to deliver one of said copies to the sender, a hinged closure for the machine, and means connected to operate when said closure is opened and adapted to sever from one of said webs a portion thereof containing copies of the addresses of all letters which have been placed in the machine.

6. In a machine of the character described, the combination, with a plurality of pairs of rolls, of a similar number of separate webs of copying paper, each of said webs passingover one-roll of each pair, means to pass a letter between said pairs of rolls whereby a plurality of copies of the address are taken, means to sever from one web a portion thereof containing a copy of the address of each letter as it is placed in the machine, means to deliver said severed portion to the sender, a hinged closure for the machine, and means connected to operate when said closure is opened and adapted to sever from another web a portion thereof containing copies of the addresses of all letters which have been placed in the machine.

KARL VON DREGER.

Witnesses:

IIENRY HASPER, WOLDEMAR HAUPT. 

